It is premature to call for closure of Office Special Prosecutor – Mahama  

President John Dramani Mahama has said it is premature to call for the closure of the Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP). 

There have been recent calls by the leading political figures from both the ruling National Democratic Congress NDC and the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the abolition of the OSP, which some indicated conflicts with the office of the Attorney-General. 

President Mahama made his views known during a courtesy call on him by the members of the National House of Chiefs led by its Chairman Reverend Emmanuel Kofi Fianu. 

The Council was at the Presidency to interact with the President and to present a litany of challenges facing it to him for redress. 

The President said the Government was committed to fighting corruption and that that was why they were resourcing the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) and other anti-corruption institutions, including the OSP.  

He stated that “recently there’s been some controversy with the Office of the Special Prosecutor. I think it’s premature to call for the closure of that office.” 

President Mahama noted that the unique thing about that office was that it was the only anti-corruption agency that had prosecutorial powers to be able to prosecute themselves without going through the Attorney General.  

“People have mistrust for the Attorney-General because he is normally a member of the government and a minister of state, and they believe that they would be very reluctant to prosecute their own, but if there is an independent office like the Office of the Special Prosecutor, it won’t matter who you are,” the President said. 

He said this was because they had security of tenure and they had prosecutorial powers, whether one was a member of government or one was a member of a previous government, or one was anybody who had, misappropriated public funds, they had the lawyers behind them to be able to prosecute the person. 

The President appealed to Ghanaians to give the OSP a little time, saying “of course, people want to see more prosecutions and more results,” and urge the OSP to speed up some of these investigations and show people that the office was still very relevant. 

Source: GNA